Thug jailed after beating up partner in drug and drink fuelled rage
A thug who kicked and punched his girlfriend as they travelled home from a night out with friends was starting a 21-month jail sentence today.
Lucas Spronson was high on drink and drugs after a visit to the German market in Birmingham City Centre and in a taxi with another couple when violence flared on December 15, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.
He and his partner had been in a three-year relationship during which the girlfriend had learned he had a dangerous temper.
They were sitting opposite each other in the cab when he accused her of being unfaithful and suddenly punched her hard in the face three times, said Mr David Swinnerton, prosecuting.
When she tried to call for help the furious 30-year-old grabbed the phone from her grasp and threw it against the inside of the vehicle, Mr Swinnerton continued.
Then the 30-year-old kicked her in the chest and head, damaging an ear, and pummelled her with more punches before being pulled aside by a man they were travelling with.
Spronson and the other couple got out when the taxi stopped on a garage forecourt but the woman was taken to the home of a relative before going to Russells Hall Hospital for treatment to severe facial bruising and a suspected perforated eardrum, the court heard.
Ms Katie Fox, defending, said: "The relationship between him and his partner was toxic.
"They brought out the worst in each other but that his no excuse for this sustained assault.
"Following his brother's death earlier in the year he turned to drink and drugs but has started to address these issues and has been dry for the past six months."
The defendant, from Ivy House Road, Oldbury, whose relationship with the partner is now over, pleaded guilty to assault and was jailed by Judge Barry Berlin who told him: "You were in a drink and drug fuelled jealous rage when you launched a very serious, sustained attack on a woman."
